Delicious Food!!!!
What are you all wonderful people making (cooking) with all those wonderful ingredients that you are growing? I would like to hear about improvement in the taste, and texture.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Roger on
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These are the more challenging times for home-grown foods in my chilly, snow-covered part of the world, but there are still good meals to be had. We froze a lot of tomato sauce this summer and fall and are turning that into all kinds of good things - soups, stews, chili, etc. We had a huge crop of parsley which I made into a very garlicky pesto and froze in ice-cube trays. We use those cubes in different ways, one of my favorite being with pasta and clams (pasta alle vongole). We also have sauerkraut bubbling in our basement, squash and pumpkins (which we use into breads, soups, couscous dishes), and a root cellar which is mostly filled with rutabaga at this stage. Our cuisine will start getting a bit more interesting in March when salad green can go into the ground. I think all of these things taste better than their industrially grown cousins. The quality is better because my soil is better and then there's the added bonus of knowing where and how the food was grown which adds the flavor of confidence to the meal.
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Permalink Reply by Maya on -
Like Roger (and only a few miles away), we use our freezer as a means of preserving the harvest. We can eat pretty locally all year. Last night we had what the kids have named "Blubarb Crisp" with wild blueberries and rhubarb from our garden. In the past week we've had basil and garlic scape pestos, pumpkin brulee, and local beef, all from the freezer. In the last week I've also become addicted to the braised cipollini at our local fresh pasta place (direct quote from self: "I could give up chocolate for these." A serious judgement from a woman who just got a fresh box of Neuhaus from Belgian mother-in-law). I tried to replicate, but with the price of mid-winter cipollini from California and the effort involved, I've decided to let the pasta guys sell me theirs. But I'm starting seeds for cipollini!
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Permalink Reply by Penelope on -
Do you mean a cipollini onion pasta sauce? Sounds good. Anna Thomas's simple tomato sauce for pasta in her first VEGETARIAN EPICURE book is really good and uses onions.
Over the years I've made tons of potato salad, and even though I believe I'm making it the same, each time it tastes different. I've discovered that the kinds of onions I use matters. Until recently, I believed an onion was an onion, except for Walla Walla sweet season when we made onion sandwiches when I was a kid and slathered them with mustard, mayo and relish. My ex called them "poor man's hamburgers." Now I am choosier about my onions. The best potato salads I've made have either chopped scallions or red onion in them.
I'm sure this is a pretty standard recipe, but here goes:
6-10 potatoes peeled and boiled just until done, not mushy (and I discovered if the potatoes are still warm when all the ingredients are mixed together, the flavors blend better.) Cut into bitesize pieces when cool enough to handle.
1/2 of a large red onion, chopped, or a handful of scallions trimmed and chopped.
3-4 sweet pickles (dill pickles can be used if you like them better) and 1/4 C of their juice (cider vinegar can be substituted)
3-4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 small can of sliced black olives
2 T. spicey brown mustard
1 t. celery seed or celery salt, or combination (if using seed, crush them liightly in the palm of your hand to bring out the flavor) I don't add raw celery to the salad because I don't like the texture next to the potatoes.
Fresh ground pepper
Juice of half a lemon if available (perks up the flavor, especially if the potatoes have been in the cellar all winter and are starting to get a big soft)
Mayonnaise as desired.
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Permalink Reply by Maya on
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Thanks for the recipe. My potato salad has to have LOTS of celery -- crunch is good -- and no mayonnaise (lifelong aversion, some things just are).
The cipollini are whole, and braised -- I think, it's the closest I could come -- in cider vinegar and maple syrup, with a pinch of crushed red pepper. I put in celery seed as well. You pop them into your mouth straight from the fridge, like all the best addictions.
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Permalink Reply by Penelope on
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The "crunch" thing is interesting. I don't like nuts, etc., in my ice cream either. Some things should be just plain creamy. But I love to munch celery sticks, and nuts by themselves, and chips are one of my downfalls,
The braised onions sound great. I'm going to try experimenting when they appear in our farmer's market.
Instead of steaming asparagus, I've recently enjoyed roasting it with a little good olive oil and coarse sea salt. The texture of the salt matters.
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Permalink Reply by Maya on
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Goodness, I thought people would be replying to this topic every minute or so. But since you are obviously not as permanently hungry as my crowd, I'll just pipe up (again) to say that last night we had a delicious peach cobbler with fruit from the freezer. We went to a PYO in October and made lots of jam, and froze slices in 1 gallon ziplocs. We also occasionally grill halves (w/olive oil, lime juice, and coarse salt) or sautee slices (butter and cinnamon) to go with meat. Great use for not-ripening-quite-fast-enough peaches, plums, and pears.
Right now I'm faced with more cabbage and turnips than I'd ever think to buy at the supermarket, from our winter CSA. I've used the cabbage in a traditional cabbage/apples/onions mix, also as a sweet & spicy short-term pickle - yum. But can't seem to sell much to the kids. Any good recipes out there for either cabbage or turnips?
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Permalink Reply by Brook on -
Maya, the trouble with turnips is if they haven't been touched by frost they often taste bitter. And that turns kids off.
Do your kids like pickles? If so, pickled turnips, which are endemic to the Mid-East, might be a way of using them up. I have several versions, all similar, if you'd like a recipe.
Turnip mash is usually good. If the kids won't eat the true gelt, mix turnips (or just about any root veggies) half & half with potatoes.
And, like all root veggies, turnips roast beautifully.
I can't imagine not liking cabbage. But kids are strange. PR Cabbage, which I believe came from one of the Moosewood books, is a winner. Here's my variation:
Puerto Rican Style Cabbage
2 cups cabbage, shredded
2 cups potatoes (either Irish or Sweet), cubed
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 cup apple juice
4 tbls butter, softened
1 tsp caraway seed, crushed
Steam cabage, potatoes and onions in juice until tender. Thoroughly mash with a fork. Add butter and seasonings and mix well.
Put mixture in a greased casserole or baking dish. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Dish may be topped with parsley or cilantro before baking.
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Permalink Reply by Maya on
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Thank you! I'll have to try it. We had some leeks and ended up having colcannon last night, which the kids love (and is similar to your PR cabbage, minus juice plus milk and mace). I've been able to get away with collards and kale in colcannon when that's what we have instead of cabbage. Need to experiment with turnips (and I'm pretty sure these ones have been nipped by frost.). My daughter and I eat pickles, so your recipe would be great when you have the time. The boys won't go near them. Generally the kids like roasted root veges; got them to eat beets the first time when I told them that if you eat enough it makes you pee pink. It's all in the marketing!
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Permalink Reply by Sandra on -
Brook -- thanks for the Puerto Rican Style Cabbage dish -- it sounds wonderful, can't wait to try it.
Maya -- I love your marketing skills -- I don't think I've heard of that approach before but I know what its like to get kids to try things -- so whatever works.
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Permalink Reply by Brook on
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As noted, there are many versions of these pickled turnips, each varying only slightly from the next except in name. This particular recipe is Turkish, for instance. But I have a Lebanese version that is almost indistinguishable.
Pickled Turnips
2 lbs small white turnips, peeled and cut in quarters*
2 medium beets, peeled and thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tbs chopped celery leaves
2 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 cups white wine vinegar, plus ;more as needed
2 tbls salt
1 tsp pickling spices
Small pinch of crushed red pepper flakes**
Pack the turnips, beets, garlic and celery leaves into sterilized jars (half gallon size works good), alternating the beets with other ingredients at regular intervals.
Bring the water and vinegar to a boil. Add the salt, pickling spices, and red pepper flakes, stirring until the salt is disolved. Pour over vegetables, making sure they are all submerged. If not, add more vinegar until they are. Seal the jars with their lids.
Store in a warmish place for a week to ten days before eating. Refrigerate them after eating. They will keep for several months in the fridge.
*I actually prefer cutting the turnips into a heavy julienne, with the strips about 3/8 to 1/2 inch square and as long as you can make 'em.
**A small red chili works even better.
This particular recipe is adapted from the one in Joanne Weir's From Tapas To Meze. But, as noted, similar recipes are found all over the Mid-East.
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Permalink Reply by Sugar's Ma on -
I found a great pesto recipe with almonds that I've been using with my indoor basil plant.
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